Canada’s Best Female Poker Player?

As I stood on the outside of the velvet rope, the sound of the chips clattering was nothing short of intense. The huge ballroom was filled with poker tables, each one carrying the hopes of men and a few women all with the same goal in mind. The bracelet? The money? Maybe to some that what it’s all about, but for most, winning is about the accomplishment of becoming a World Poker Tour (WPT) champion.

It was November 11, 2007 and the WPT North American Poker Championship was underway. Not too many people understood why I wanted to make the four hour drive to Niagara Falls only to watch the tournament. For me, it was to set a goal for myself; to see with my own eyes what I was missing would give me a reason to continue with my dream. So I stood and watched with the occasional fellow spectator asking if I was playing in the event because they could swear they saw me on TV before. I gave the same answer to everyone who asked: “Not yet.” Two days later, I got in my car to make the long drive home to the country, all the while the same thought running through my mind: “I have to play in the next North American event and I have one year to get there.”

I first became interested in poker when the televised craze hit. Soon after, I started to play online for play money. It wasn’t long before I saw the huge difference in what I had seen on television and what was happening in the games I played in. I was using words like donkey and moron, all compliments of Phil Helmuth. It was right then that I ended my play chip days and moved on to the big time, $1 sit and gos.

I hit the book stores and, as expected, my first book was the Bible of the poker world, Doyle Brunson’s “Super System.” I kept playing online, but the levels which I could afford to play didn’t help much in removing the donkeys. It seemed like there was always someone in every game that was willing to play bad poker and he always got lucky. There were times when I had spent hours in an online tournament only to be taken out by an idiot. There were also times when I was so upset that I went to bed at 3:00am in tears. More than 70% of my losses were to the worst hand. If I took my winnings from playing lower level buy-ins and moved up a level, I thought I would have better players who wouldn’t make ridiculous calls. It didn’t work out that way; there was always someone else with more money than I had who was willing to risk losing it.

I needed to find a way to play in better poker games with better players. Low buy-in games are where I had to play for now. It’s what I am financially able to do. Being stuck in this position makes it very hard to develop in the poker world.

Flash forward to October 12, 2008. Walking into the ballroom this time was different. There were no chips clattering. My heart was in my throat and my stomach was filled with butterflies. As a floor man reached over to unhook the velvet rope that separated the players from the spectators, it hit me. I was on the other side of the rope! I stopped for a second to take a deep breath and realized that just getting here was an accomplishment.

Most bought their seat in the event for $10,300 or played in the $1,200 qualifier tournaments. I had invested a total of $9 in a $3 rebuy tournament on PartyPoker. When people asked how I won my seat, my response was that I didn’t win it, I earned it. Winning is something you do when you “win” the lottery or a raffle draw. To get into the WPT event, I had earned my seat by working for it.

I had decided that I would play Day 1 and Day 2 without family and friends around me. I wanted to be focused on nothing but the tournament. I met up with PartyPoker reps and other online winners for dinner, followed by a couple of drinks in the newest night club in Niagara, where I had the pleasure of meeting J.C. Tran. He is a totally down to Earth guy who seemed to have his very own posse of guys. You know you’re big time when you have a “posse!”

The night before the second day of play, I met a few other entrants in the tournament, one of them being “Italian Vinny,” who was no newcomer to such large events. I am certain I’ve seen him on televised tournaments before. After spending some time with Vinny, he presented me with an incredible offer: He placed $8,500 in front of me, his offer to buy my seat. Everything he said to me was the truth. I was only in for $9 and that type of profit would be too good to turn down. The odds of me placing in a tournament that included very experienced players were not good. This type of money could buy my way into other poker tournaments that gave me a much better chance of winning. “You’re a nice girl and if I were you I would take the money,” he said after I told him I needed some time to think about it.

I ultimately turned down his offer. I couldn’t imagine how I would feel about myself if I didn’t try. I didn’t know when I would get the chance to play in another WPT event. The main reason I passed on the money was that this was my dream; no money should take that away from me.

In almost any poker book, you will read the same advice over and over again: Get a good night’s rest. Are you kidding me? The night before my first day of play, I was so anxious that at 2:00am, I had to get out of the room. I grabbed my journal and went to the hotel lounge, where I sat alone writing these thoughts.

The first time you play a big tournament like this, every little thing matters. I chose to play on Day 1C for two reasons. One was because I heard that this was the day that most of the pro players choose to play. I would rather play with good players in order to test myself and to avoid the impatient 20 year-olds. Secondly, I wanted to go straight from Day 1 to Day 2.

My first table was a good one, filled with middle aged business men, but no pros to start with. For some reason, you can’t wait to get the chance to play with guys like Daniel Negreanu, but when you actually get there, you pray you’re not at the same table.

I had a few good hands and was making small progress. It wasn’t long before Nick Schulman arrived at our table. I had A-Q off suit and he and I were the only two in the pot. A queen hit the flop I took down the pot. I leaned across the table to thank him, telling him that it was my first hand won or even played against a pro. He laughed, but after that, he didn’t say much to anyone at the table.

Tables were breaking and enter Kathy Liebert. Sitting directly to my left was one of, if not the best, women in poker. To my surprise, she was amazingly nice. I have watched Kathy play many times on television and to tell the truth, I admire her very much as a woman. After looking back, I wish I had told her this while we sat next to each other, but I’m sure she knows how many women feel the same way.

After our table got broke, I was seated two seats away from Chau Giang! I said my hellos to everyone already sitting and looked at Chau saying “I know you! I watched you on TV. Last week, you made a lady cry! She went all in with pocket jacks.” He responded, “Oh, I remember her. She was a nice lady.” I replied, “Well, I hope you don’t make me cry today.”

My next seat was adjacent to this massive bulldog of a French Canadian guy, Eric Cajelais. This table featured a very long stretch of brutal cards: 7-3, 8-4, and so on. All the while, the “bulldog” was dominating the table, which made me think that all I needed was one good hand to double up. To this point in the tournament, the highest pocket pair I had was 10s. I thought to myself, “I’m not going out on tilt, especially on Day 1.” My luck didn’t change and the clock kept ticking.

I was at this table for the remaining time on the first day and all the while, I was lucky to play three hands. Before arriving at this brutal seat, I had 43,000 in chips. When the final chip count of Day 1 was done, I had 31,000. I tried to look at things in a positive way, thinking at least I made it past the first day. However, all I could think about was how I got stuck in a bad seat next to a super dominant player. I made my way up to my room, feeling pretty tired from not sleeping more than an hour the night before.

I made my way to my seat on Day 2 and sat next to Gavin Smith. When I introduced myself to him, I told Gavin how I planned to be Canada’s best female poker player. Not that I wanted to sound better than I really am, but that is my goal. I knew that the second day was no longer about survival, but rather about building my chip stack. I was below average and needed to pick my spots and push. Everything I had ever read in all of the books was running through my mind. Everyone has different skills and I believe mine is being able to put my opponents on a hand.

The first hand of Day 2 was dealt and I looked down at A-K. Great start after such a bad run of cards on the first day of the tournament. It was the first hand and I had no clue as to how the others would play. I was second to act with the blinds being 400-800, so I min-raised to 1,600. Gavin folds, the next player folds, and in middle position an older gentlemen, raises to 4,000, which I thought to be a big raise for the first hand. Immediately, I tried to put him on a hand, which would be the obvious starting hands; A-A, K-K, A-K, A-Q, Q-Q, or J-J. Everyone else folds to me and I called the raise. The flop came 9-A-6 with two diamonds. I was the first to act, so I bet the amount I was raised, 4,000. He re-raised to 8,000. I’ve got top pair, top kicker, right? So what can he have? Maybe he was testing his kings, but if I min-raised with my ace and then bet his reraise, wouldn’t he know that I was holding an ace? He wouldn’t play A-9 so aggressively and if he had pocket aces or pocket nines, he wouldn’t re-raise, he would trap me. He has to have A-K, A-Q, or A-J, and maybe suited and on the flush draw. I need to call his raise. If a diamond comes on the turn, I still have time to get away from the hand.

I called his raise and the turn came the seven of clubs. No diamond, so I have to push. It doesn’t matter whether it the first hand of the day, if you’ve got the goods, push! I bet my 19,000 remaining in chips. He calls me, and turns over A-10 of diamonds. I knew he was on the draw. “No diamond, no diamond,” I thought to myself as the dealer turned over the river card, the 10 of spades. My heart fell into the pit of my stomach like a ton of bricks. Just like that, my dream had come to an end. I had him and I knew it.

To be honest, I felt heartbroken. As many times as I have heard people talk about dealing with the losses, nothing prepared me for the type of hurt I felt inside when it all came to and end.

As I write this article, several weeks have passed since the tournament. I have looked back on everything too many times in my mind. I still believe I played my last hand correctly. I didn’t have cards to work with, with my highest pocket pair being 10s. Considering the circumstances, I am proud of how I did. I don’t regret my choice not to take the money and instead play in the tournament.

Overall, it was a great experience which led to meeting some wonderful people. I sat right next to Kathy Liebert, made Chau Giang laugh, survived the wrath of Eric Cajelais, had a few drinks with J.C. Tran, chatted with Ali Nejad, got “giddy” when Daniel Negreanu asked how I was doing, and introduced myself as the Next Canadian Female Pro Poker player to fellow Canadian Gavin Smith.

The North American Poker Championships were just the beginning for me. In the next few weeks, I plan to find a coach who will help to improve my game by Spring. By March of next year, I plan to play in my first ever Ladies WPT Championship. This past summer, I played in this years Ladies Canadian Poker Tour (CPT) event and made the final table, placing sixth. It, too, was my first CPT tournament.

I teach my sons that, whatever they chose to do with their lives, make sure it’s something they love. My dream is to be Canada’s greatest female poker player, to be able to do what I persuade my boys to do: turn my dreams into reality.

I would like to thank Warren Lush and Kristen Makin for being such great hosts during the tournament and now wonderful friends. To my family, thank you for your support, love, and understanding.